Sports India

India will be praying for a clean sweep for England when it meets Pakistan, for such an outcome would see Inzamam-ul-Haq’s men slump to the fourth spot, pushing India to the third place in the process.

Despite breaking a 35-year-old jinx and winning the four-match Test series against the West Indies, India has hardly any reason to smile. First the team slumped to the fourth spot after the not-so-impressive show and individually, only Rahul Dravid (second) and Anil Kumble (eighth) managed to hang on in the list of top 10 batsmen and bowlers, respectively.

Meanwhile, Pakistan displaced England from the second place in the update of the LG ICC Test rankings.

Pakistan is just 10 points behind leader Australia (130) and a clean sweep over host England will put it within three points of Australia.

However, if England wins the series, it will move back above Pakistan, while a 4-0 home success will move it to within 10 points of Australia and drop Pakistan into fourth place, below India.

Ponting on top

Australia’s Ricky Ponting heads the batting list, followed by Rahul Dravid. Virender Sehwag at 16th spot is the only other Indian in the top 20.

Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is the leading bowler. Among the Indians, Anil Kumble occupies the eighth spot and Irfan Pathan is 15th.

LG ICC Test championship: 1. Australia (130); 2. Pakistan (120); 3. England (113); 4. India (111); 5. Sri Lanka (99); 6. South Africa (98); 7. New Zealand (92); 8. West Indies (72); 9. Zimbabwe (28); 10. Bangladesh.

Top 10 batsmen: 1. Ricky Ponting (Aus, 931); 2. Rahul Dravid (Ind, 882); 3. Jacques Kallis (RSA, 832); 4. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak, 831); 5. Matthew Hayden (Aus, 808); 6. Younis Khan (Pak, 796); 7. Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) and Mike Hussey (Aus, 780 each); 9. Kevin Pietersen (Eng, 746); 10. Brian Lara (WI, 732).

Top 10 bowlers: 1. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL, 901); 2. Makhaya Ntini, (RSA, 841); 3. Shane Warne, (Aus, 813); 4. Glenn McGrath (Aus, 811); 5. Matthew Hoggard (Eng, 780); 6. Andrew Flintoff (Eng, 767); 7. Shoaib Akhtar (Pak, 751); 8. Anil Kumble (Ind, 736); 9. Shane Bond (NZ, 720); 10. Chaminda Vaas (SL) and Corey Collymore (WI, 700 each).

Top 5 all-rounders: 1. Jacques Kallis (RSA); 2. Andrew Flintoff (Eng); 3. Shaun Pollock (RSA); 4. Daniel Vettori (NZ); 5. Chaminda Vaas (SL).

Harbhajan Singh on Monday predicted a significant role for slow bowlers in the World Cup to be held next year in the Caribbean where he said the pitches had become spinner-friendly.

“During our tour of the Caribbean, most of the pitches were slow and especially in the Test series, during the second innings the ball kept low and ultimately the batsmen were beaten,” he said on Monday.

“Wickets in West Indies were similar to those in the Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka, which helped us in understanding its nature early,” he said adding the team’s experience would come handy in World Cup.

Harbhajan admitted that the fast bowlers in the team played a crucial role in the team’s 1-0 Test series triumph.

“The fast bowlers contributed to the success of spinners in the last two matches by their early breakthroughs which left less pressure on the spinners,” he added.

Commenting on the tour, he said although the ODI series was quite disappointing, ultimately the team came back strongly in the Tests.

“Lara’s able captaincy was the key to West Indies success in ODI series. Although we started in a very good rhythm, later on West Indies overtook us which yielded results in their favour.”

Harbhajan Singh today predicted a significant role for slow bowlers in the World Cup to be held next year in the Caribbean where he said the pitches had become spinner-friendly.

“During our tour of the Caribbean, most of the pitches were slow and especially in the test series, during the second innings the ball kept low and ultimately the batsmen were beaten,” he told reporters here today.

“Wickets in West Indies were similar to those in the Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka, which helped us in understanding its nature early,” he said adding the team’s experience would come handy in World Cup.

Harbhajan admitted that the fast bowlers in the team played a crucial role in the team’s 1-0 Test series triumph.

“The fast bowlers contributed to the success of spinners in the last two matches by their early breakthroughs which left less pressure on the spinners,” he added.

Commenting on the tour, he said although the ODI series was quite disappointing, ultimately the team came back strongly in the tests.

“Lara’s able captaincy was the key to West Indies success in ODI series. Although we started in a very good rhythm, later on West Indies overtook us which yielded results in their favour.”

ICC general manager cricket David Richardson said the ICC is dealing with the issue of bowlers with suspect actions more effectively than ever before.
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The current regulations, in place since March 2005, provide a scientific basis for judging a player’s action while, at the same time, recognising the reality that almost all bowlers are likely to straighten their arm to some extent during delivery.

“The regulations are based on the views of an expert panel of former players, including Angus Fraser, Michael Holding and Tony Lewis - the current chairman of the MCC’s cricket committee,” said Richardson.

“This group studied the research of prominent biomechanists Prof Bruce Elliot, Dr Paul Hurrion and Marc Portus and the scientific evidence they were presented with was overwhelming.

“The facts are that some bowlers, even those never suspected of having flawed actions, were found likely to be straightening their arms by 11 or 12 degrees.

“And, at the same time, some bowlers that may appear to be throwing may be hyper-extending or bowl with permanently bent elbows.

“Under a strict interpretation of the law they were breaking the rules but if we ruled out every bowler that did that then there would be no bowlers left.

“The game needed to deal with that reality and the current regulations do just that.

“What they do is take the pressure off umpires because it is now no longer one person’s view of whether or not a bowler has an illegal action. It is something that can be proved scientifically and the assessment is independent and not partisan.

“At the same time, the umpire retains the right to call a bowler for throwing and the first judgment he makes is still based on his instincts after viewing an action with the naked eye,” he added.

The regulations include a 15-degree level of tolerance in elbow extension for all bowlers during delivery, which was identified by the panel of experts as the point after which the bend is likely to become visible to the naked eye.

Five senior international bowlers have been reported under the new process - Harbhajan Singh of India, Pakistan’s Shabbir Ahmed and Shoaib Malik, Jermaine Lawson of the West Indies and Johan Botha of South Africa.

Shabbir Ahmed is currently serving a one-year suspension after being found to have a flawed action twice within a two-year period.

The regulations were also applied at this year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Twelve players were identified with potentially flawed actions and are not permitted to bowl again in international matches until they undergo remedial action and have proved their actions to be within the legal limits.

Richardson was responding to comments made by former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe during the MCC’s Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on Tuesday evening.

During his lecture, Crowe also claimed test cricket was being undermined by the continued presence of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Richardson commented: “Bangladesh have taken time to adjust to the demands of test cricket but that mirrors the experience of every side that has stepped up to the top level.

“Bangladesh are a cricket-crazy country and have shown encouraging signs of development and, given time, we fully expect them to become more and more competitive at test level.

“Zimbabwe have already stepped back from their test commitments to allow themselves time to regroup and we are keen to help them in that process in any way we can.”

A foreign trainer always brings with him a new pattern and tries to ensure decent facilities for the players. And, even though the Indian football team and its new coach Bob Houghton were put up in different hotels in the city on Thursday, the players were not complaining.

After a gruelling month-long camp in Goa, the players felt that the Englishman has a more attacking mindset than his predecessor, Stephen Constantine.

“He is a quality coach and knows his trade well,” Indian captain S Venkatesh told TOI here on Thursday. “His stature is quite high. Though he doesn’t interact with players personally, the coach has chalked out the roles and duties of each player,” Venkatesh added.

The Indian team will leave for Vancouver on Sunday for a four-nation series in Canada. The tournament starts from July 19-25. Besides India, a Chinese U-20 team, Cardiff City FC of England and hosts Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be taking part in the tournament.

Given the fact that it would be Houghton’s first major assignment before the Asian Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia, most players feel he is a man of good technical acumen.

“He has coached teams like China, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia. So one can gauge his technical superiority when it comes to team formation,” added defender Habibur Rahman Mondol, who returned to the national team almost after a year. Houghton will make his final assessment on Saturday following the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Getting to know Indian football in such a short span may prove slightly difficult for Hughton. He has suggested a 4-4-2 formation for a success-starved Indian side. But Bhaichung Bhutia’s absence in the attacking third might make his job a little difficult in Vancouver. Even the players acknowledged this fact.

“Bhutia’s leadership and experience will be missed. We don’t have quality strikers in the present team and it would be difficult to sustain the pressure without him (Bhutia),” said a senior player.

Sachin Tendulkar today said he was “feeling quite good” about his shoulder, which was operated upon nearly four months ago, but refused to confirm whether he would be available for the tri-series in Sri Lanka next month.

“I was in England for six weeks, undergoing a training programme and even played practice matches … I am feeling quite good, but cannot say now whether I will go or not (to Sri Lanka). There is a fitness test to be done,” Tendulkar said at a press conference here.

The Mumbai batsman has been out of action since March 26 when he underwent a shoulder surgery. He missed the one-day series against England at home and the entire tour of the Caribbean where India played five ODIs and four Tests.

The world record holder for most Test hundreds said the current injury was the most challenging of all he had suffered in his 16-year career but denied he was rushing back from it.

“That’s why I did not go to the West Indies. Certain injuries need x-number of days to recover and you have to respect that,” he said. “I think probably this one (injury) is biggest of all I have had. It has been tough, and taken a long time to fix it and get back into action,” he added.

Tendulkar, who was here for a promotional event, said India “played extremely well” in the Caribbean, where they lost the one-dayers 1-4 and won the Tests 1-0, their first series-win in 35 years.

“The one-dayers were disappointing but we made it up for it in Tests. We had couple of chances earlier (to win the series, in 1997 and 2002), but finally we have won,” Tendulkar said. “In the first and second Tests, we were a bit unlucky. But we showed in the fourth Test that perseverance pays.”

He refused to go with West Indies captain Brian Lara’s opinion that the Indians missed Tendulkar. “Eventually 11 players play the game. An individual is not going to win the game on his own, but the team can,” he said.

Anil Kumble came in for special praise from the master batsman. “Anil is a great player. He doesn’t need to prove anything. He has shown great determination to be where he is now, with more than 500 wickets. He will walk into any team,” he said.

Tendulkar felt the batsmen could have done better but did not make a direct comment on the team’s performance. “It is not right for me to sit in United Kingdom and talk without knowing what is happening in the dressing room,” he said. “I think in this series we could have made big scores but again, it is the guy who actually goes out and plays who can say what went wrong. I have also made mistakes in the past. It is a matter of when you make those mistakes. I don’t want to make any loose comments,” he added.

Indiagames today launched its new service – Games on Demand with Airtel broadband and telephone Services.

The service was launched with star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar playing an online rally game.

This service offers unlimited consumption of legal games at a bare minimum monthly subscription fee of Rs. 199. Indiagames has partnered with a number of leading games publishers like Microsoft, Atari, Playfirst, Alawar, Merscomm, Cenega, Meridian, Techland, amongst others, to be able to bring a variety of premium single and multiplayer games, which include popular titles such as Age of Empires, Driv3R and Flight Simulator to this service.

Commenting on the launch of its Games on Demand service, Vishal Gondal, CEO Indiagames, said, “The Games on Demand service is going to revolutionize the gaming industry in India. With over 85% of games in India being sold illegally, we believe that with our unparalleled price offering we will significantly expand the segment of legitimate sales and bring the experience of high quality online gaming to millions of gamers in India.”

He further added, “Our online gaming service would give consumers a legitimate reason to opt for a broadband service, thus accelerating the growth of the broadband user base in India”

“Today, customers are looking for rich content to enhance the overall broadband experience. As a leading service provider, we aim to offer the hottest on-demand content through as many channels as possible,” said Akshay Kumar, chief marketing officer, Airtel Broadband and Telephone Services.

“Online gaming is fast gaining popularity across the world and with the Games on Demand service on Airtel, we are gearing up to give our customers a cool and enhanced gaming experience with the power of a high-speed network,” he added.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar today said the people’s indomitable spirit had helped the country quickly overcome the devastating serial bomb blasts in Mumbai.

“It was extremely unfortunate, so many innocent lives were lost. But it has also shown the strength of our people. People were back to work on the same trains the very next day,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event here.

“This is the strength of Bharat to help each other in difficult times. When we do this, our strength grows, our love for each other grows,” he said.

“We have seen people helping others whom they have not known before, giving them water and food. These things happen rarely outside India. We have to keep helping each other, it will only strengthen our bonding.”

There is still a lot of cricket left in Sachin Tendulkar and one should not have any doubts about his come back to international cricket, the consultant for BCCI Andrew Leipus has said.

The amount of runs he has made for Lashings World XI recently is a testimony to his fitness and form, he noted.

Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, Leipus said the champion batsman would be back.

“I can for the moment make a subjective decision about his fitness and not an objective one. But I expect him to come back stronger and better,” he said.

On the player burn out issue, Leipus said the question on volume of cricket played these days needs to be addressed.

“Most of the tours are short and compact. One has to look at the issue in its entirety — itinerary, tour planning, scheduling of matches. “If there are more gaps between matches, the tours tend to be longer.

“It is a `catch-22′ situation, which the authorities concerned should address,” he said. On the general fitness of the men in blue, Leipus said one has to assess it on an individual level and not the team as a whole.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, recuperating from a shoulder injury, Thursday refused to state a categorical date for his comeback to the Indian cricket team - though he said he was feeling ‘quite good’.

‘I am feeling quite good, but cannot say now whether I will go or not. There is a fitness test to be done,’ the 33-year-old said at a press conference.

In the city for a promotional event, he was replying to a question on whether he would be available for the one-day triangular series in Sri Lanka next month.

Tendulkar’s injury came to light after the Test series against England ended in Mumbai March 21.

Initially, the Indian cricket board had said that he would miss competitive cricket for eight weeks, including the seven-match home one-day international series against England and the subsequent two one-dayers against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

But the maestro also missed the tour to the West Indies, comprising five one-day internationals and four Tests.

Now, his millions of fans are hoping that Tendulkar would return to the national team in the triangular series in Sri Lanka, also involving South Africa.

It will, however, depend on his fitness test, which is expected to be held in Mumbai. The date of the test is yet to be decided.

Earlier Thursday, board secretary Niranjan Shah said Tendulkar would have to undergo a fitness test - but could be picked for the squad before that.

‘Yes, it is a possibility that he is selected subject to his passing a fitness test,’ Shah told IANS on the telephone.

‘Team physiotherapist John Gloster was in London, and was to arrive in Mumbai Thursday. He will take Sachin’s fitness test and give his report to the board. The fitness can be done even on July 19.’

Tendulkar spent six weeks in England, recuperating and playing matches. It was in London that he was operated upon in late March. He returned to Mumbai Tuesday.

In England, he also played some charity matches for private club Lashings and scored four centuries against club-standard bowling attacks. It is, however, not known if he felt any pain in his shoulder during the matches.